


Shock and Awe

by alexcat



Series: After the World Ends [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 19:08:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14575668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: What happens next?  Can this be fixed?





	Shock and Awe

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War
> 
> I want to fix this mess so here is my fix-it story.

When it was done, when there was no one left on Titan but him and Nebula, she asked him if he wanted to go home.

“How?” 

“I can get you there.”

“Who are you?” 

“I am Nebula. He is my … torturer, my destroyer. He took us when he destroyed our worlds, Gamora and me. He made us monsters, killers and now I will kill him. If he is on your Earth then that’s where I will go.”

Tony nodded. 

And she was as good as her word. She had a little ship, pod or shuttle, he wasn’t sure which, and they went to Earth. When they came close enough to be contacted, he told them who he was and they let him land. He had her take him to Avengers headquarters. He couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. 

*

Steve Rogers watched the alien ship land outside. He’d been told it was Stark. His Stark. He watched the blue cyborg woman get off. When the guards approached her, she appeared to growl at them and they stood down, letting her pass. Stark followed. He looked beaten, scared… something Steve had not seen even when they had fought one another. 

He went out to the landing pad. Nat ran out to Tony and hugged him, followed by the ones who survived, even Thor. Steve hung back, the weight of the world on his shoulders. They had failed. They had lost… almost everything. 

He saw Tony looking around and their eyes met. 

Not saying anything, he walked up to Tony and took him in his arms and kissed him, full on the lips, the lovers’ kiss that no one had seen between them and few had even suspected. 

“The rest are gone, Tony. You, dear god, Tony, you’re here.” 

“I know, Cap. I know.” Tony Stark, a man never without words, could say no more. He simply held onto Steve Rogers as if he’d die if he let go. 

Rocket and Thor approached Nebula and she seemed to be calm enough when they went inside the building. Nat led the rest inside as well. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up and see what needs fixing. We still have a doc or two around here,” Steve finally managed though neither of them broke their embrace for several more minutes. 

*

“You’re none the worse for wear, Mr. Stark,” the doctor told him after looking at his wounds. “I see you have some new scars though.” 

Tony just nodded. He got off the table slowly and followed Steve to the little apartment Steve had when he’d lived here, before the argument, before the fight. Steve looked around and found some clean clothes that had been Tony’s before, long before, it seemed.

“Shower? Bath?” Steve asked. 

“Shower.” Steve started the water and helped Tony remove what he’d worn under his suit, pausing to touch the scar from the chest wound. He said nothing, asked no questions.

Tony showered and stepped from the water, letting Steve dry him as a parent might dry a small child. Then Steve dressed him and led him to the bed. They lay down, Steve spooning Tony from behind, and did not move or speak for hours. They didn’t sleep either, neither one ready to close his eyes and allow the horrors to catch up. 

*

“Are you hungry?” Steve asked what seemed like a week later but only three hours. 

“I don’t know. I can’t feel anything, Cap. It’s like I died but I’m still walking, like I’m a ghost.”

Steve knew the feeling. He’d felt that way ever since he’d woke up in the present. Everyone he knew was dead but Peggy and Bucky. Peggy was old and Bucky had been lost to him for such a long time. Then Tony Stark had given him life again. 

And Tony was still here. 

Alive. 

And oh, so broken. 

Steve pulled him closer and gently kissed the back of his neck. “I wish I could fix this.” 

“I – Strange said that there was one chance in 14 million futures of us winning then he gave Thanos the stone he carried. Why would he do that? I begged him not to.” 

He had no answer, just held Tony. 

They lay there through the night, not sleeping, not talking, just reliving the nightmare. 

Nat popped in the room sometime after sunrise. 

“There’s food in the commissary. Turns out that Banner can cook.”

“We’ll be there,” Tony answered. 

Breakfast was a somber affair, with almost all of the original Avengers around the table. Clint was missing and they hadn’t yet heard from him. They’d left Okoye and M’Baku picking up the pieces in Wakanda. Shuri had survived as well and the three were strong in the face of all the destruction. There had been a few calls from agents who were heading in to the headquarters, not knowing what else to do. 

Rocket was even subdued this morning as he sat beside Thor, who was still calling him Rabbit. 

“Is he still here?” Tony finally asked. He didn’t have to say who ‘he’ was. They all knew.

“We don’t know for sure but we think he may have left. There has been no word from the General that he’s still in Wakanda. She and M’Baku have searched for him.”

“Bastard!” Tony muttered. 

“What do we do now?” Banner asked. “Is he done?” 

“I will find him and kill him!” Nebula shouted, her eyes filled with their usual hatred. 

“We all want that, sister,” Rocket said between huge bites of eggs and bacon. He gulped some coffee and resumed his voracious eating. She stared at him for a moment and resumed eating as well.

“Have you never had food, Rabbit? You eat like my brother, Loki.” Thor patted the raccoon being on the back. 

Steve asked, “Can he even be killed? The might of the whole Earth did little to stop him,” 

Tony stared into his coffee cup and said nothing. 

The chatter continued through breakfast with Tony saying little the whole time. They all hugged again before going to their rooms or to train or just to watch the news on television. They were the strongest people on the planet but they felt like scared children, almost afraid of leaving one another’s sight. 

Tony and Steve went back to Steve’s room and as soon as the door closed, Tony slammed Steve against the wall and kissed him hard. Without moving from the wall, he tugged and pulled enough of their clothes loose to expose the important parts. He sank to his knees in front of Steve, keeping both hands against him to keep him against the wall. 

Later, he stood by the window, staring outside. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. The earth seemed to have not even noticed that half its inhabitants were gone, completely gone. He choked back a sob when he thought of Peter Parker and his aunt. Dear God, how was he going to tell her that Peter was gone? Was she gone too?

Steve was standing close behind him before he realized it. 

“Tell me. It’s killing you. Just tell me.” 

“The boy, Peter Parker. He was with me on Titan and he begged me to help him and then he was just – gone. He was a boy, Steve, a boy.”

“I’m sorry, Tony.” It was all he said. There was nothing else to say. 

~tbc~


End file.
